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Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by the Red Sea, Jordan, Iraq, Kuwait, the Persian Gulf, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Yemen. Most of its terrain consists of arid desert, lowland, steppe, and mountains. Its capital and largest city is Riyadh.

Featured Dishes from Saudi Arabia

Arabic coffee

Arabic coffee

Arabic coffee is a version of the brewed coffee of Coffea arabica beans. Most Arab countries throughout the Middle East have developed distinct methods for brewing and preparing coffee. Cardamom is an often-added spice, but it can alternatively be served plain or with sugar. There are several different styles to brewing the coffee depending on the preference of the drinker. Some methods keep the coffee light whereas others can make it dark. Arabic coffee is bitter, and typically no sugar is added. It is usually served in a small cup that is adorned with a decorative pattern, known as a finjān. Culturally, Arabic coffee is served during family gatherings or when receiving guests. Arabic coffee originated in the Middle East, beginning in Yemen and eventually travelling to Mecca , Egypt, the Levant, and then, in the mid-16th century, to Turkey and from there to Europe where coffee eventually became popular as well. Arabic coffee is an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Arab states confirmed by UNESCO.

Baghrir

Baghrir

Baghrir or beghrir , also known as ghrayef or mchahda, is a pancake consumed in Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia. They are small, spongy, and made with semolina or flour; when cooked correctly, they are riddled with tiny holes (which soak up whatever sauce they are served with). The most common way to eat baghrir in Algeria and Morocco is by dipping them in a honey-butter mixture, but they can also be cut into wedges and served with jam. Baghrir is popular for breakfast, as a snack, and for iftar during Ramadan. On the 9th day of Ramadan, the Mozabite people of Algeria exchange baghrir as a form of tradition, which they call m'layin; they are also distributed to the poor. In the Maghreb, this type of pancake is also known under other names: gh'rayf, in Tunisia and eastern Algeria (Constantine, Collo, Skikda), kh'ringu in Morocco and Algeria, [grifa, gh'rayf]; [m'layn, s. m'layna]; [gh’rayf]; [gh’rayf]; [kh’ringu, kh’ringu]; [khringu] in Algeria. This lexical diversity undoubtedly denotes a rich and ancient regional tradition. As for the word baghrir, it seems to be typical of Maghrebi-Western Arabic dialects (Morocco, Algeria), in any case it is unknown to us elsewhere. The lexicographer Mohamed Sbihi considers, in his Mu'djam, that the word baghrir is in some way an alteration of the Arabic baghir of the verb baghara; the baghir, according to the classic Arabic dictionaries, is the one who drinks without being able to quench his thirst (generally said of an animal). It is possible that the word was used in this case by allusion to the great absorbability of these pancakes, which have holes like a sponge.

Balela

Balela

Balila is a Levantine dish consisting of chickpeas that have been boiled along with lemon juice, garlic, and various spices. It is served as a hot mezze dish. The name is also used for a different Egyptian dish made of wheat, milk, nuts, and raisins.

Champorado

Champorado

Champorado or tsampurado is a sweet chocolate rice porridge in Philippine cuisine. It is traditionally made by boiling sticky rice with tablea (traditional tablets of pure ground roasted cocoa beans). It can be served hot or cold, usually for breakfast or merienda, with a drizzle of milk (or coconut milk) and sugar to taste. It is usually eaten as is, but a common pairing is with salted dried fish (daing or tuyo).

Coffee

Coffee

Coffee is a beverage brewed from roasted coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content. It has the highest sales in the world market for hot drinks. The seeds of the Coffea plant's fruits are separated to produce unroasted green coffee beans. The beans are roasted and then ground into fine particles typically steeped in hot water before being filtered out, producing a cup of coffee. It is usually served hot, although chilled or iced coffee is common. Coffee can be prepared and presented in a variety of ways . Sugar, sugar substitutes, milk, and cream are often added to mask the bitter taste or enhance the flavor.

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Cream cheese drizzled with olive oil

Serve with bread

Dal

Dal

In Indian cuisine, dal , paruppu (Tamil: பருப்பு), or pappu (Telugu: పప్పు) are dried, split pulses (e.g., lentils, peas, and beans) that do not require soaking before cooking. India is the largest producer of pulses in the world. The term is also used for various soups prepared from these pulses. These pulses are among the most important staple foods in South Asian countries, and form an important part of the cuisines of the Indian subcontinent. The word dāl (dal) derives from the Sanskrit verbal root dal- "to split", which is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *delh₁- “to split, divide”.

Dates

Dates

Fruit from the date palm. A common snack, dessert.

Eggs

Eggs

Humans and their hominid relatives have consumed eggs for millions of years. The most widely consumed eggs are those of fowl, especially chickens. People in Southeast Asia began harvesting chicken eggs for food by 1500 BCE. Eggs of other birds, such as ducks and ostriches, are eaten regularly but much less commonly than those of chickens. People may also eat the eggs of reptiles, amphibians, and fish. Fish eggs consumed as food are known as roe or caviar. Hens and other egg-laying creatures are raised throughout the world, and mass production of chicken eggs is a global industry. In 2009, an estimated 62.1 million metric tons of eggs were produced worldwide from a total laying flock of approximately 6.4 billion hens. There are issues of regional variation in demand and expectation, as well as current debates concerning methods of mass production. In 2012, the European Union banned battery husbandry of chickens.

Falafel

Falafel

Falafel is a deep-fried ball or patty-shaped fritter of Egyptian origin, featuring in Middle Eastern cuisine, particularly Levantine cuisines, and is made from broad beans, ground chickpeas, or both.

Fattet hummus

Fattet hummus

A dip made with bread that is soaked in broth, hummus, tahini and lemon juice

Flatbread

Flatbread

A flatbread is bread made usually with flour; water, milk, yogurt, or other liquid; and salt, and then thoroughly rolled into flattened dough. Many flatbreads are unleavened, although some are leavened, such as pita bread. Flatbreads range from below one millimeter to a few centimeters thick so that they can be easily eaten without being sliced. They can be baked in an oven, fried in hot oil, grilled over hot coals, cooked on a hot pan, tava, comal, or metal griddle, and eaten fresh or packaged and frozen for later use.

Fresh fruit

Fresh fruit

In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering . Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particular have long propagated using the movements of humans and other animals in a symbiotic relationship that is the means for seed dispersal for the one group and nutrition for the other; humans and many other animals have become dependent on fruits as a source of food. Consequently, fruits account for a substantial fraction of the world's agricultural output, and some (such as the apple and the pomegranate) have acquired extensive cultural and symbolic meanings.

Ful medames

Ful medames

Ful medames , or simply fūl, is a stew of cooked fava beans served with olive oil, cumin, and optionally with chopped parsley, garlic, onion, lemon juice, chili pepper and other vegetables, herbs, and spices. Ful medames is traditionally made in and served out of a large metal jug. It is notably a staple food in Egypt and is considered a national dish, especially in the northern cities of Cairo and Gizah.[citation needed] Fava beans can sometimes be also found in other cuisines in the Middle East, and Africa, though cooked differently. The name of this culinary dish is transcribed fūl medammis, ful medammes, foul mdammes, etc. Some modern dictionaries suggest that its Coptic name is ⲫⲉⲗ phel or fel, but this is a term derived from Arabic (after the Arabization of Egypt).

Goat cheese

Goat cheese

Goat cheese, goat's cheese or chèvre is cheese made from goat's milk. Goats were among the first animals to be domesticated for producing food. Goat cheese is made around the world with a variety of recipes, giving many different styles of cheeses, from fresh and soft to aged and hard. Goats produce high-quality, nutrient-rich milk under even the most difficult environments, making them valuable to arid or mountainous areas where cattle and sheep cannot survive. In addition, like all animal products, goat milk is heavily influenced by what the goats are eating. Because goats have hardy digestive systems, they tend to eat many bitter plants that more delicate animals such as cows and horses will not. Goats were one of the earliest animals domesticated to suit human needs—more specifically milk production—going back to 8,000 BC, 10,000 years ago. Goat cheese has been made for at least as far back as 5,000 BC; the first documented proof of humans making cheese of any kind dates to 7,500 years ago in Poland. Goat milk has higher proportions of medium-chain fatty acids, such as caproic and caprylic, which contribute to the characteristic tart/"goat" flavor of the cheese. They also make goat milk and cheeses more easily digestible.

Harees

Harees

Harees, jareesh , boko boko, or harisa (Armenian: հարիսա, romanized: harisa) is a dish of boiled, cracked, or coarsely-ground cracked wheat or bulgur, mixed with meat and seasoned. Its consistency varies between a porridge and a gruel. Harees is a popular dish known throughout Armenia where it is served on Easter day, and the Arab world, where it is commonly eaten in Arab states of the Persian Gulf in the month of Ramadan, and in Iraq, Lebanon and Bahrain during Ashura by Shia Muslims. "Harisa", also transliterated as "horisa", derived from the Arabic verb "haras" meaning "to squish" to describe the action of breaking and pounding the grains before mixing it with water to create a porridge. In Arabic, "Harees" (Arabic: هريس) is linked to the verb (Arabic: هَرَسَ, romanized: harasa) which still means to mash or to squash.

Honeycomb

Honeycomb

A honeycomb is a mass of hexagonal prismatic cells built from beeswax by honey bees in their nests to contain their brood and stores of honey and pollen. Beekeepers may remove the entire honeycomb to harvest honey. Honey bees consume about 8.4 lb (3.8 kg) of honey to secrete 1 lb (450 g) of wax, and so beekeepers may return the wax to the hive after harvesting the honey to improve honey outputs. The structure of the comb may be left basically intact when honey is extracted from it by uncapping and spinning in a centrifugal honey extractor. If the honeycomb is too worn out, the wax can be reused in a number of ways, including making sheets of comb foundation with a hexagonal pattern. Such foundation sheets allow the bees to build the comb with less effort, and the hexagonal pattern of worker-sized cell bases discourages the bees from building the larger drone cells. Fresh, new comb is sometimes sold and used intact as comb honey, especially if the honey is being spread on bread rather than used in cooking or as a sweetener. Broodcomb becomes dark over time, due to empty cocoons and shed larval skins embedded in the cells, alongside being walked over constantly by other bees, resulting in what is referred to as a 'travel stain' by beekeepers when seen on frames of comb honey. Honeycomb in the "supers" that are not used for brood (e.g. by the placement of a queen excluder) stays light-colored.

Hummus

Hummus

Hummus , also spelled hommus or houmous, is a Middle Eastern dip, spread, or savory dish made from cooked, mashed chickpeas blended with tahini, lemon juice, and garlic. The standard garnish in the Middle East includes olive oil, a few whole chickpeas, parsley, and paprika. The earliest mention of hummus was in a 13th century cookbook attributed to the Aleppine historian Ibn al-Adim.

Ka'ak

Ka'ak

Ka'ak or kahqa is the common Arabic word for cake or biscuit, in its various senses, and can refer to several different types of baked goods produced throughout the Arab world and the Near East. The bread, in Middle Eastern countries, is similar to a dry and hardened biscuit and mostly ring-shaped. Similar pastry, called "kue kaak", is also popular in Indonesia. Ka'ak is first attested to in the Kitab al Wusla il al Habib, which originates from Syria in the 13th century. The Kitab al Wusla il al Habib gives three recipes for Ka'ak. Ka'ak can refer to a bread commonly consumed throughout the Near East that is made in a large ring-shape and is covered with sesame seeds. Fermented chickpeas are used as a leavening agent. Widely sold by street vendors, it is usually eaten as a snack or for breakfast with za'atar. In East Jerusalem, it is sometimes served alongside oven-baked eggs and falafel. Palestinians from Hebron to Jenin consider ka'ak al-Quds (Jerusalem ka'ak) to be a unique specialty good, and those from the city or visiting there often buy several loaves to give to others outside the city as a gift.

Kebda

Kebda

Spiced and fried liver, serve with flatbread, tahini, rice

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Khabees

Khabees is a traditional sweet dish popular in Arab States of the Persian Gulf, and common in Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. It is made of flour and oil and is commonly served as a traditional dish for breakfast, especially during Eid days. Khabees خَبِيصْ (or more uncommonly, khabeesa خبيصة) from The root خَبَصَ (“to mix”) is denominal. A recipe for Khabees was mentioned in a 10th century Arabic cookbook, Kitab al-Ṭabīḫ (the book of dishes) by Ibn Sayyar al-Warraq.[citation needed]

Khubz

Khubz

Khubz, alternatively transliterated as khoubz, khobez, khubez, or khubooz,[clarification needed] is the usual word for "bread" in Standard Arabic and in many of the vernaculars. Among the breads popular in Middle Eastern countries are "pocket" pita bread in the Levant and Egypt, and the flat tannur bread in Iraq. The oldest known kind of bread, found by archaeologists in the Syrian Desert , dates back 14,000 years. It was a sort of unleavened flatbread made with several types of wild cereals.

Laban

Laban

The term Leben, variously laban, liben, lben // ⓘ in the Middle East and North Africa, refers to a food or beverage of fermented milk. Generally, there are two main products known as leben: The yogurt variant for the Levant region and the buttermilk variant for parts of Arabia and North Africa (Maghreb). Leben can be served at breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Leben as a drink is traditionally prepared by letting milk ferment for around 24 hours, then churning and removing the butter. The remaining buttermilk can keep for several days at room temperature. In modern times, it is produced industrially. Leben in parts of the Middle East is traditionally prepared by boiling milk, usually whole milk, then adding yogurt (or previously made, left over/store-bought leben), and then cooled overnight.

Labneh

Labneh

Strained yogurt, Greek yogurt, yogurt cheese, sack yogurt or kerned yogurt is yogurt that has been strained to remove most of its whey, resulting in a thicker consistency than normal unstrained yogurt, while still preserving the distinctive sour taste of yogurt. Like many types, strained yogurt is often made from milk enriched by boiling off some water content, or by adding extra butterfat and powdered milk. In Europe and North America, it is often made from low-fat or fat-free cow's milk. In Iceland, a similar product named skyr is made. Strained yogurt is generally marketed in North America as "Greek yogurt" and in the United Kingdom as "Greek-style yogurt", though strained yogurt is also widely eaten in Levantine, Eastern Mediterranean, Middle Eastern, Central Asian, South Asian, and Eastern European cuisines, where it is often used in cooking, as it curdles less readily when cooked. It is used in a variety of dishes, cooked or raw, savory or sweet. Straining makes even nonfat varieties thicker, richer, and creamier than unstrained. Since straining removes the whey, more milk is required to make strained yogurt, increasing the production cost. Thickeners such as pectin, locust bean gum, starches or guar gum may also be used to thicken yogurts. In Western Europe and the United States, strained yogurt has increased in popularity compared to unstrained yogurt. Since the straining process removes some of the lactose, strained yogurt is lower in sugar than unstrained yogurt.

Longganisa

Longganisa

Fresh or smoked pork sausage, some common versions are sweet, garlicky, sour and garlicky

Lugaw

Lugaw

Lugaw, also spelled lugao, is a Filipino glutinous rice dish or porridge. Lugaw may refer to various dishes, both savory and sweet. In Visayan regions, savory lugaw are collectively referred to as pospas. Lugaw is widely regarded as a comfort food in the Philippines. According to the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, lugaw is one of the earliest historically-documented dishes in the Philippines. The Vocabulario de la lengua tagala by Fr. Pedro de San Buenaventura, defines "logao" (Hispanized as "aroz guisado") as "rice mixed with [coconut] milk or water or of both (porridge)."

Manakish

Manakish

Manakish , or in singular form man'ousheh, or other spellings, is a popular Levantine food consisting of dough topped with za'atar, cheese, or ground meat. It can be sliced or folded, and it can be served either for breakfast or lunch. Traditionally, women would bake dough in a communal oven in the morning, to provide their family with their daily bread needs, and would prepare smaller portions of dough with different toppings for breakfast at this time.

Markook

Markook

Markook bread , also known as khubz ruqaq (Arabic: رقاق), shrak (Arabic: شراك), khubz rqeeq (Arabic: رقيق),[better source needed] mashrooh (Arabic: مشروح), and saj bread (Arabic: خبز صاج), is a kind of Middle Eastern unleavened flatbread common in the Levant and the Arabian peninsula. It is baked on a convex metal griddle (a saj) or in a tannour. Markook shrak is a type of thin bread. The dough is unleavened and usually made with only flour, water, and salt, and after being rested and divided into round portions, flattened and spread across a round cushion until it is thin then flipped onto the saj. It is often folded and put in bags before being sold. It is commonly compared to pita bread, also found in Middle Eastern cuisine, although it is much larger and thinner. In some Arab countries, such as Yemen, different names are given for the same flatbread, such as khamir, maluj and ṣaluf, depending on the regional dialects. By Israelis, markook may also be referred to as laffa, though markook and laffa are distinct types of flatbread.

Masala dosa

Masala dosa

Masala dosa is a dish of South India. It is a type of dosa originating in the town of Udupi, Karnataka. While there is variation in the recipe from town to town, the basic recipe typically starts with a fermented batter of parboiled rice, poha, and various legumes (black gram, pigeon peas, chickpeas), and incorporates various spices for flavour, such as fenugreek and dry red chilli. Traditionally served with potato curry, chutneys, and sambar, it is a common breakfast item in South India, though it can also be found in many other parts of the country and overseas. One common variant is the paper masala dosa, which is made with a thinner batter, resulting in a crisper, almost paper-thin final product. The dosa is made by soaking rice and lentils overnight in water and then grinding them into a batter. The batter is fermented overnight. To make the dosa the batter is spread on a hot tava using a ladle or a bowl. It is pan-roasted until crispy and served with potato curry, chutneys or sambar.

Masoob

Masoob

Masoob is a traditional Yemeni dessert. Masoob is a banana-based pudding made from over-ripe bananas, ground flat bread, cream, cheese, dates, and honey. It is popular in Yemen, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Masoob is a bread pudding prepared with mashed bananas, honey, and cream along with whole wheat bread. Some versions top with dates, almonds, raisins, and even cheese. The meal provides an ideal combination of richness from the cream, sweetness from the bananas and honey, and earthy nutty flavor from the bread. Masoob is delicious both as a sumptuous dessert and as a wholesome breakfast. Being rich in dietary fiber, healthy fats, and carbohydrates, Masoob is a wholesome breakfast choice. Additionally, it contains bananas that provide good amounts of potassium, which is necessary for controlling fluid balance, nerve impulses, and muscular contractions.

Olives

Olives

The olive, botanical name Olea europaea, meaning 'European olive', is a species of small tree or shrub in the family Oleaceae, found traditionally in the Mediterranean Basin. When in shrub form, it is known as Olea europaea 'Montra', dwarf olive, or little olive. The species is cultivated in all the countries of the Mediterranean, as well as in Australia, New Zealand, North and South America and South Africa. It is the type species for its genus, Olea. The tree and its fruit give their name to the Oleaceae plant family, which also includes species such as lilac, jasmine, forsythia, and the true ash tree. The olive's fruit, also called an "olive", is of major agricultural importance in the Mediterranean region as the source of olive oil; it is one of the core ingredients in Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cuisines. Thousands of cultivars of the olive tree are known. Olive cultivars may be used primarily for oil, eating, or both. Olives cultivated for consumption are generally referred to as "table olives". About 80% of all harvested olives are turned into oil, while about 20% are used as table olives.

Pancakes

Pancakes

A pancake is a flat cake, often thin and round, prepared from a starch-based batter that may contain eggs, milk and butter, and then cooked on a hot surface such as a griddle or frying pan. It is a type of batter bread. Archaeological evidence suggests that pancakes were probably eaten in prehistoric societies. The pancake's shape and structure varies worldwide. In England, pancakes are often unleavened and resemble a crêpe. In Scotland and North America, a leavening agent is used (typically baking powder) creating a thick fluffy pancake. A crêpe is a thin pancake of Breton origin cooked on one or both sides in a special pan or crepe maker to achieve a lacelike network of fine bubbles. A well-known variation originating from southeast Europe is palatschinke, a thin moist pancake fried on both sides and filled with jam, cream cheese, chocolate, or ground walnuts, but many other fillings—sweet or savoury—can also be used.

Shakshouka

Shakshouka

Shakshouka is a Maghrebi dish of eggs poached in a sauce of tomatoes, olive oil, peppers, onion, and garlic, commonly spiced with cumin, paprika and cayenne pepper. Shakshouka is a popular dish throughout North Africa and the Middle East. The word shakshouka (Arabic: شكشوكة) is a Maghrebi Arabic term for "a mixture". According to Mary Fitzgerald, the word is allegedly believed to come from the Berber languages, although most sources agree on the term's Arabic origin. In Morocco, it is referred to as bīḍ w-maṭiša (بيض ومطيشة "egg and tomato"). The term shakshouka may have derived from "shak", another Arabic word meaning "to combine things together", as the dish combines tomatoes, chilies and eggs. Gil Marks, while noting some similarities with the Ottoman dish menemen, suggests that shakshouka evolved from şakşuka which spread to the Maghreb through the influence of the Ottoman Empire. Anthony Buccini noted similarities between a wider range of vegetable stews. He and Noam Sienna conclude that both shakshouka and menemen, among other dishes like piperade and ratatouille, are members of a wider family of vegetable stews of common ancestry appearing throughout the western Mediterranean.

Taho

Taho

Tahô is a Philippine snack food made of fresh soft/silken tofu, arnibal (sweetener and flavoring), and sago pearl (similar to tapioca pearls). This staple comfort food is a signature sweet and tahô peddlers can be found all over the country. The dish originates from Hokkien tāu-hū (豆腐), which was introduced to the Philippines via Hokkien immigrants.

Tea

Tea

Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured or fresh leaves of Camellia sinensis, an evergreen shrub native to East Asia which probably originated in the borderlands of southwestern China and northern Myanmar. Tea is also made, but rarely, from the leaves of Camellia taliensis. After plain water, tea is the most widely consumed drink in the world. There are many different types of tea; some have a cooling, slightly bitter, and astringent flavour, while others have profiles that include sweet, nutty, floral, or grassy notes. Tea has a stimulating effect in humans, primarily due to its caffeine content. An early credible record of tea drinking dates to the third century AD, in a medical text written by Chinese physician Hua Tuo. It was popularised as a recreational drink during the Chinese Tang dynasty, and tea drinking subsequently spread to other East Asian countries. Portuguese priests and merchants introduced it to Europe during the 16th century. During the 17th century, drinking tea became fashionable among the English, who started to plant tea on a large scale in British India.

Waffles

Waffles

A waffle is a dish made from leavened batter or dough that is cooked between two plates that are patterned to give a characteristic size, shape, and surface impression. There are many variations based on the type of waffle iron and recipe used. Waffles are eaten throughout the world, particularly in Belgium, which has over a dozen regional varieties. Waffles may be made fresh or simply heated after having been commercially cooked and frozen. The word waffle first appears in the English language in 1725: "Waffles. Take flower, cream..." It is directly derived from the Dutch wafel, which itself derives from the Middle Dutch wafele.

Warak enab

Warak enab

Sarma is a traditional food in Ottoman cuisine (nowadays, Turkish, Greek, Armenian, etc.) made of vegetable leaves rolled around a filling of minced meat, grains such as rice, or both. It is commonly marketed in the English-speaking world as stuffed grape leaves, stuffed vine leaves, or stuffed cabbage leaves. The vegetable leaves may be cabbage, patience dock, collard, grapevine, kale or chard leaves. Sarma is part of the broader category of stuffed dishes known as dolma, and has equivalents (such as the Polish Gołąbki) in Eastern European cuisines from the northern Baltic through Ukraine. Sarma is a Turkish word meaning "wrapping. Sarma made with grape leaves are called yaprak sarması (lit. 'leaf sarma') or yaprak dolması (lit. 'leaf dolma') in Turkish, yabraq (يبرق) in Arabic, yarpaq dolması (lit. 'leaf dolma') in Azerbaijani, and dolme barg-e mo (دلمه برگ مو, lit. 'vine leaf dolma') in Persian and waraq 'inab (ورق عنب) or waraq dawālī (ورق دوالي) in Arabic. In Assyrian it is called ܦܪܵܟܼܹܐ (prakhe) which refers to the fact that the rice is rubbed in the grape leaves. In Armenian, they are called մսով տերեւափաթաթ (missov derevapatat), տերեւի տոլմա (derevi dolma), թփով դոլմա (t'pov dolma) and տերեւի սարմա (derevi sarma). In Greek they are generally called ντολμάδες (dolmathes) but may also be known as γιαπράκια (yaprakia), γιαπράκια γιαλαντζί (yaprakia yalandzi), ντολμαδάκια (dolmathakia), ντολμαδάκια γιαλαντζί (dolmathakia yalandzi), σαρμάδες (sarmathes), or σαρμαδάκια (sarmathakia).

Aish as

Aish as

Aish as-Saraya is an Arab dessert eaten regularly in the Levant and Egypt, consisting of syrup-soaked breadcrumbs topped with clotted cream and pistachios, and contains neither eggs nor butter. It is popular in the Arab world.

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Al

safseef - Dates with date syrup or honey, ginger powder, cumin and almonds

Asida

Asida

Asida iːdə]) is a common dish in the Arab world. It is a lump of dough, obtained by stirring wheat flour into boiling water, sometimes with added butter or honey. Similar in texture to fufu, it is eaten mainly in Middle East and African countries. It is considered one of the most popular desserts and traditional dishes in many Arab countries. Asida is particularly popular in Sudan, Morocco, Libya, Algeria, Tunisia, Yemen, Ethiopia, Eritrea, and the rest of the Middle East. Often served during religious holidays such as Mawlid and Eid, it is also served during other traditional ceremonies, for example accompanying the birth of child, such as the ‘aqīqah, the cutting of the hair of a newborn seven days after birth. A simple, yet rich dish, often eaten without other complementary dishes, it is traditionally served at breakfast and is also given to women in labor.

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Baid al qata

Small shortbread cookies filled with a mixture of walnuts, rose water and spices, then coated with powdered sugar

Baklava

Baklava

Baklava is a layered pastry dessert made of filo pastry, filled with chopped nuts, and sweetened with syrup or honey. It was one of the most popular sweet pastries of Ottoman cuisine, it is also popular in both Iranian (Persian) and Greek cuisine. There are several theories for the origin of the pre-Ottoman version of the dish. In modern times, it is a common dessert among cuisines of countries in West Asia, Southeast Europe, Central Asia, and North Africa. The word baklava is first attested in English in 1650, a borrowing from Ottoman Turkish: باقلاوه /bɑːklɑvɑː/. The name baklava is used in many languages with minor phonetic and spelling variations. The earliest known reference to baklava is in a poem by the 15th century mystic Kaygusuz Abdal.

Banana cue

Banana cue

Banana cue or bananacue is a popular snack food or street food in the Philippines. It is a portmanteau of banana and barbecue, which in Philippine English refers to meat cooked in a style similar to satay. Banana cue is made with deep fried bananas coated in caramelized brown sugar. The bananas used for this recipe are Saba bananas, which are very commonly used for cooking in the Philippines. It is usually skewered on a bamboo stick, and sold on the streets. The skewer stick is just for ease of serving and eating, but the dish is not cooked on the skewer .

Basbousa

Basbousa

Basbousa is a sweet, syrup-soaked semolina cake that is typically associated with Egyptian cuisine, and is also popular in the wider region. The semolina batter is baked in a sheet pan, then sweetened with orange flower water, rose water or simple syrup, and typically cut into diamond (lozenge) shapes or squares. The Oxford Companion to Food (3rd edition) suggests that basbousa might have developed from a dish called ma'mounia, which was created around the 10th century. Ma'mounia was made by cooking rice in fat and syrup. This recipe was later adapted to use semolina, with the batter being cooked first and then soaked in syrup. Another take on its origin suggests that basbousa was first made during the 16th century in the Ottoman Empire, likely in what is modern-day Turkey, to celebrate the conquest of Armenia.

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Basbousa bil tamr

Semolina cake with date filling

Biko

Biko

Biko is a sweet rice cake from the Philippines. It is made of coconut milk, brown sugar, and sticky rice. It is usually topped with latik . It is a type of kalamay dish and is prepared similarly, except the rice grains are not ground into a paste. They are also sometimes packaged and sold as suman. It is also known as inkiwar in Ilocano Northern Luzon and sinukmani or sinukmaneng in the Southern Luzon area. In the Muslim regions of the Philippines, it is known as wadjit in Tausug; wadit in Maranao; and wagit in Maguindanao.

Binignit

Binignit

Binignit is a Visayan dessert soup from the central Philippines. The dish is traditionally made with glutinous rice cooked in coconut milk with various slices of sabá bananas, taro, ube, and sweet potato, among other ingredients. It is comparable to various dessert guinataán dishes found in other regions such as bilo-bilo. Among the Visayan people, the dish is traditionally served during Good Friday of Holy Week. Binignit is also called giná-tan in Bikolano, tabirák in Mindanao Cebuano, alpahor in Chavacano, wit-wit in Hiligaynon, ginettaán, tambo-tambong, and paradusdos in Ilokano, ginat-an (or ginat-ang lugaw) in Waray and Hiligaynon/Ilonggo, kamlo in western Iloilo, scramble in Tuguegarao City, linugaw in Bacolod, and eangkuga by Akeanons in Aklan.

Blancmange

Blancmange

Blancmange is a sweet dessert popular throughout Europe commonly made with milk or cream and sugar, thickened with rice flour, gelatin, corn starch, or Irish moss (a source of carrageenan), and often flavoured with almonds. It is usually set in a mould and served cold. Although traditionally white (the literal English translation of the name is "white eat"), blancmanges are frequently given other colours. Blancmange originated at some time during the Middle Ages from the older Middle Eastern muhallebi, and usually consisted of capon or chicken, milk or almond milk, rice, and sugar; it was considered to be an ideal food for the sick.[citation needed]

Camote cue

Camote cue

Camote cue or camotecue is a popular snack food in the Philippines made from camote . Slices of camote are coated with brown sugar and then fried, to cook the potatoes and to caramelize the sugar. It is one of the most common street foods in the Philippines, along with bananacue and turon.

Cassava cake

Cassava cake

Cassava cake is a traditional Filipino moist cake made from grated cassava, coconut milk, and condensed milk with a custard layer on top. It is a very popular dish in the Philippines, where it is commonly eaten for merienda. It is also served during gatherings and special occasions. Cassava was one of the crops imported from Latin America through the Manila galleons from at least the 16th century. Cassava cake is a type of bibingka , having its origins from adopting native recipes but using cassava instead of the traditional galapong (ground glutinous rice) batter. It is also known more rarely as cassava bibingka or bibingkang kamoteng kahoy, although the English name is more commonly used. In Quezon, cassava cake is more commonly known as budin.

Chocolate

Chocolate

Chocolate or cocoa is a food made from roasted and ground cocoa seed kernels that is available as a liquid, solid, or paste, either on its own or as a flavoring agent in other foods. Cocoa has been consumed in some form for at least 5,300 years starting with the Mayo-Chinchipe culture in what is present-day Ecuador. Later Mesoamerican civilizations also consumed chocolate beverages, and it was introduced to Europe in the 16th century.

Crepe

Crepe

A crêpe or crepe is a dish made from unleavened batter or dough that is cooked on a frying pan or a griddle. Crêpes are usually one of two varieties: sweet crêpes (crêpes sucrées) or savoury galettes (crêpes salées). They are often served with a wide variety of fillings such as cheese, fruit, vegetables, meats, and a variety of spreads. Crêpes can also be flambéed, such as in crêpes Suzette. The French term "crêpe" derives from crispa, the feminine version of the Latin word crispus, which means "curled, wrinkled, having curly hair."

Ensaymada

Ensaymada

The ensaïmada is a pastry product from Mallorca, Balearic Islands, Spain, commonly found in southwestern Europe, Latin America and the Philippines. The ensaïmada de Mallorca is made with strong flour, water, sugar, eggs, mother dough and a kind of reduced pork lard named saïm in Catalan, which gives the pastry its name. The handmade character of the product makes it difficult to give an exact formula, so scales have been established defining the proportion of each ingredient, giving rise to an excellent quality traditional product. The pastry apparently has a Jewish origin, deriving from bulemas, using lard instead of olive oil as a means of escaping the suspicions of the authorities during the Inquisition. The first written references to the Mallorcan ensaïmada date back to the 17th century. At that time, although wheat flour was mainly used for making bread, there is evidence that this typical pastry product was made for festivals and celebrations.

Espasol

Espasol

Espasol is a chewy and soft, cylinder-shaped Filipino rice cake. It is made from glutinous rice flour cooked in coconut milk and sweetened coconut strips and, afterwards, dusted or coated with toasted rice flour. Originating from the province of Laguna, it is traditionally sold during the Christmas season. [citation needed] Nowadays, espasol can be found on major thoroughfares, street stores, and bus stops in and near Laguna. It can also be found in specialty stores and pasalubong centers in and near Laguna.

Falooda

Falooda

A falooda is a Mughalai cold dessert made with vermicelli. It has origins in the Persian dish faloodeh, variants of which are found across West, Central, South and Southeast Asia. Traditionally it is made by mixing rose syrup, vermicelli, and sweet basil seeds with milk, often served with ice cream. The vermicelli used for preparing falooda is made from wheat, arrowroot, cornstarch, or sago. The origin of falooda goes back to Iran , where a similar dessert, faloodeh, is still popular. The dessert came to late Medieval India with the many Central Asian dynasties that invaded and settled in South Asia in the 16th to 18th century. The present form of falooda was developed in the Mughal Empire and spread with its conquests. The Persianate rulers who succeeded from the Mughals patronized the dessert with their own adaptations, specifically in Hyderabad Deccan and the Carnatic areas of present-day India. This beverage is now a part of Pakistani cuisine, Afghan cuisine, Burmese cuisine, Indian cuisine, Bangladeshi cuisine and Sri Lankan cuisine and is served on weddings and other occasions. In Sri Lanka, Falooda (ෆලුඩා / ஃபலூடா) is often consumed as a popular dairy refreshment.

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Ferek

A sweetened onion dessert made with caramelized onions, powdered sugar, spices and ground bread

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Gers ogaily

Sponge cake made with cardamom, saffron, vanilla, rose water, serve with tea

Ghazal al banat

Ghazal al banat

Cotton candy, also known as candy floss and fairy floss, is a spun sugar confection that resembles cotton. It usually contains small amounts of flavoring or food coloring. It is made by heating and liquefying sugar, and spinning it centrifugally through minute holes, causing it to rapidly cool and re-solidify into fine strands. It is often sold at fairs, circuses, carnivals, and festivals, served in a plastic bag, on a stick, or on a paper cone.

Halawet el jibn

Halawet el jibn

Halawet el-jibn (cheese sweet) is a Syrian dessert made of a semolina and cheese dough, filled with cream. Its origin is from Homs in Syria, by the Homsi family. It is found in other regions in the Middle East, and has been brought by Syrian immigrants to other countries such as Turkey and Germany. This dessert is primarily made of a cheese dough (containing Akkawi cheese, mozzarella, or some mix of cheeses), a sugar syrup, and orange blossom water or rose water. It is normally filled with cream (Qoshta, Arabic: قشطة) and decorated with pistachio.

Halva

Halva

Halva is a type of confectionery originating from Persia (now Iran) and widely spread throughout the Middle East and South Asia. The name is used for a broad variety of recipes, generally a thick paste made from flour, butter, liquid oil, saffron, rosewater, milk, turmeric powder, and sweetened with sugar. The word halva entered the English language between 1840 and 1850 from Romanian, which came from Ottoman Turkish: حلوى, romanized: helva, itself ultimately derived from Arabic: حلوى, romanized: ḥalwā, a sweet confection. The root in Arabic: ح ل و, romanized: ḥ-l-w, means "sweet". The original name for the confection was Persian: روغن خورديگ, romanized: rōγn xwardīg, meaning "oil food".

Hininy

Hininy

Hininy is a traditional food in Saudi Arabia, especially in Najd. It is a mixture of date paste, wheat flour, milk, ghee, sugar and cardamom, and is common during Ramadan

Jaggery

Jaggery

Jaggery is a traditional non-centrifugal cane sugar consumed in the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, North America, Central America, Brazil and Africa. It is a concentrated product of cane juice and often date or palm sap without separation of the molasses and crystals, and can vary from golden brown to dark brown in colour. It contains up to 50% sucrose, up to 20% invert sugars, and up to 20% moisture, with the remainder made up of other insoluble matter, such as wood ash, proteins, and bagasse fibres. Jaggery is very similar to muscovado, an important sweetener in Portuguese, British and French cuisine. The Kenyan Sukari ngutu/nguru has no fibre; it is dark and is made from sugarcane and also sometimes extracted from palm tree. Jaggery comes from Portuguese terms jágara, jagra, borrowed from Malayalam ശർക്കര , which is borrowed from Sanskrit शर्करा (śarkarā). It is a doublet of sugar.

Jalebi

Jalebi

Jalebi [a], is a popular sweet snack in the Indian subcontinent, West Asia and some parts of Africa. It goes by many names, including jilapi, zelepi, jilebi, jilipi, zulbia, jerry, mushabak, z’labia, or zalabia. The south Asian variety is made by deep-frying maida flour batter in pretzel or circular shapes, which are then soaked in sugar syrup. Jalebi is eaten with curd or rabri (in North India) along with optional other flavors such as kewra (scented water).

Kalamay

Kalamay

Kalamay is a sticky sweet delicacy that is popular in many regions of the Philippines. It is made of coconut milk, brown sugar, and ground glutinous rice. It can also be flavored with margarine, peanut butter, or vanilla. Kalamay can be eaten alone; but is usually used as a sweetener for a number of Filipino desserts and beverages. It is related to the Chamorro dessert called Kalamai. Kalamay is made by extracting coconut milk from grated coconuts twice. Glutinous rice is added to the first batch of coconut milk and the mixture is ground into a paste. Brown sugar is added to the second batch of coconut milk and boiled for several hours to make latík. The mixture of ground glutinous rice and coconut milk is then poured into the latík and stirred until the consistency becomes very thick. It can be served hot or at room temperature especially when eaten with other dishes. Viscous Kalamay are often served cooled to make it less runny and easier to eat.

Kanafeh

Kanafeh

Knafeh is a traditional Arabic dessert, made with spun pastry called kataifi, soaked in a sweet, sugar-based syrup called attar, and typically layered with cheese, or with other ingredients such as clotted cream, pistachio or nuts, depending on the region. It is popular in the Middle East. In Arabic, the name may refer to the string pastry itself, or to the entire dessert dish. In Turkish, the string pastry is known as tel kadayıf, and the cheese-based dessert that uses it as künefe. In Turkey, it is called künefe. In the Balkans, the shredded dough is similarly known as kadaif/cataif, and in Greece as kadaifi, and is the basis of various dishes rolled or layered with it, including dessert pastries with nuts and sweet syrups. The English language borrows the word "knafeh" from Levantine and Egyptian Arabic, and widely transliterates it as kanafeh, kenafeh, knafeh, kunafah, kunafeh, konafa, knéfé, kunafa, and similar variations.

Kheer

Kheer

Kheer, also known as payasam or payesh, is a pudding or porridge popular in the Indian subcontinent, usually made by boiling milk, sugar or jaggery, and rice. It can be additionally flavoured with dried fruits, nuts, cardamom and saffron. Instead of rice, it may contain cracked wheat, vermicelli , or tapioca (sabudana). In Southern India, it is known as payasam and it is made in various ways. The most popular versions are the ones made with rice and vermicelli (semiya).

Khoshaf

Khoshaf

Dried fruit compote, made with stewed dried fruit such as prunes, raisins, dates, apricots and figs, nuts, syrup, orange blossom water, common during Ramadan

Kulfi

Kulfi

Kulfi is a frozen dairy dessert from the Indian subcontinent. It is often described as "traditional Indian ice cream". Kulfi originated in 16th-century Delhi during the Mughal era. It is part of the national cuisines of India and Pakistan.[citation needed] It is also popular in Bangladesh, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and the Middle East.[better source needed]

Laddu

Laddu

Laddu or laddoo is a spherical sweet from the Indian subcontinent made of various ingredients and sugar syrup or jaggery. It has been described as "perhaps the most universal and ancient of Indian sweets." Laddus are often served during celebrations and religious festivals, especially those associated with the Hindu deity Ganesha.

Lokma

Lokma

Lokma, also awameh, is a dessert made of leavened and deep fried dough balls, soaked in syrup or honey, sometimes coated with cinnamon or other ingredients. The dish was described as early as the 13th century by al-Baghdadi as luqmat al-qādi , "judge's morsels". The Arabic word luqma (لُقْمَةٌ) (plural luqmāt), means morsel, mouthful, or bite. The dish was known as luqmat al-qādi (لُقْمَةُ ٱلْقَاضِيِ) or "judge's morsels" in 13th century Arabic cookery books, and the word luqma or loqma by itself has come to refer to it. The Turkish name for the dish, lokma, is derived from the Arabic, as is the Greek name loukoumádes (λουκουμάδες). The recipe for Luqmat al-Qadi, yeast-leavened dough boiled in oil and doused in honey or sugar syrup with rosewater, dates back to at least the early medieval period and the 13th-century Abbasid Caliphate, where it is mentioned in several of the existent cookery books of the time. It is also mentioned in the One Thousand and One Nights, in the story The Porter and the Three Ladies of Baghdad. The explorer and scholar Ibn Battuta in the 14th century encountered the dish he knew as Luqaymat al-Qadi at a dinner in Multan, during his travels in medieval India, where his hosts called it al-Hashimi.

Ma'amoul

Ma'amoul

Ma'amoul is a filled butter cookie made with semolina flour. It is popular throughout the Arab world. The filling can be made with dried fruits like figs, dates, or nuts such as pistachios or walnuts, and occasionally almonds. Ma'amoul is usually made during the holidays of Easter, and a few days before Eid (then stored to be served with Arabic coffee and chocolate to guests who come during the holiday). It is popular throughout the Arab world, especially in the Arabian peninsula.

Maja blanca

Maja blanca

Maja blanca is a Filipino dessert with a gelatin-like consistency made primarily from coconut milk. Also known as coconut pudding, it is usually served during fiestas and during the holidays, especially Christmas. Maja blanca has the consistency of thick gelatine and a delicate flavor, and is creamy white in color.

Malban

Malban

Turkish delight or lokum is a family of confections based on a gel of starch and sugar. Premium varieties consist largely of chopped dates, pistachios, hazelnuts or walnuts bound by the gel; traditional varieties are often flavored with rosewater, mastic gum, bergamot orange, or lemon. Other common flavors include cinnamon and mint. The confection is often packaged and eaten in small cubes dusted with icing sugar, copra, or powdered cream of tartar to prevent clinging. In the production process, soapwort may be used as an emulsifying additive. The origin of lokum is not precisely known, though the confection is known to have been produced in the Ottoman Empire, Greece and Greek populations in Asia Minor and Safavid Azerbaijan since the late 18th century.

Maruya

Maruya

Pinaypay (literally "fanned" in Tagalog and Cebuano), also known as maruya, is a type of banana fritter from the Philippines. It is usually made from saba bananas. The most common variant is prepared by cutting bananas into thin slices on the sides and forming it into a fan-like shape (hence its name), and coating it in batter and deep frying them. They are then sprinkled with sugar. Though not traditional, they may also be served with slices of jackfruit preserved in syrup or ice cream. Pinaypay are commonly sold as street food and food sellers at outdoor though they are also popular as home-made merienda snacks among Filipinos. A variant of pinaypay may also use dessert bananas, which are usually just mashed before mixing them with batter. They can also be made from sweet potatoes. Among Muslim Filipinos, this version is known as jampok, and traditionally use mashed Latundan bananas.

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Masabib

Thin pancakes, serve with honey and pistachios

Meghli

Meghli

Meghli, moghli, meghleh, , or karawiyah, is a Levantine dessert based on a floured rice pudding and spiced with anise, caraway, and cinnamon. The dish is often garnished with dried coconut flakes and various nuts including almonds, walnuts, pine nuts, and pistachios. Meghli is commonly served to celebrate the birth of a child. It is also a popular Christmas dessert in Lebanon as a celebration of the birth of Jesus. The name 'meghli' means “boiled” in Arabic, referring to the long time (up to an hour) it must be continuously stirred while boiling. The dish was traditionally served to celebrate the birth of a male heir, but has now become a dessert to celebrate any newborn. The caraway is thought to assist the new mother in lactating

Mousse

Mousse

A mousse is a soft prepared food that incorporates air bubbles to give it a light and airy texture. Depending on preparation techniques, it can range from light and fluffy to creamy and thick. A mousse may be sweet or savoury. Sweet mousses are typically made with whipped egg whites, whipped cream, or both, and flavored with one or more of chocolate, coffee, caramel, puréed fruits, or various herbs and spices, such as mint or vanilla. In the case of some chocolate mousses, egg yolks are often stirred into melted chocolate to give the final product a richer mouthfeel. Mousses are also typically chilled before being served, which gives them a denser texture. Additionally, mousses are often frozen into silicone molds and unmolded to give the mousse a defined shape. Sweetened mousse is served as a dessert or used as an airy cake filling. It is sometimes stabilized with gelatin. Savoury mousses can be made from meat, fish, shellfish, foie gras, cheese, or vegetables. Hot mousses often get their light texture from the addition of beaten egg whites.

Muhallebi

Muhallebi

Muhallebi is a milk pudding commonly made with rice, sugar, milk and either rice flour, starch or semolina, popular as a dessert in the Middle East. While the dessert is called Muhallebi in Iraq, the Egyptian variant is called mahalabia and the levantine variant is called mahalabiyeh. Legend has it that muhallebi (Arabic: مهلبية) was introduced into Arab cuisine in the late seventh century by a Persian (Iranian) cook from what was then the Sasanian Empire (224–651), who served it to an Arab general by the name of Al-Muhallab ibn Abi Sufra. He liked it so much, he named it after himself. The earliest recipes, dating to the 10th century, featured three versions: milk thickened with ground rice, milk with rice grains and chicken, and an egg custard without rice. Early recipes for muhallabiyya include a work attributed to Ibn Sayyar al-Warraq of Baghdad and two 13th-century Arab cookbooks, one by al-Baghdadi and another from Al Andalus that have a spiced pudding variation made with mutton instead of chicken. The legend of the pudding's supposed Persian origins comes from the Al Andalus cookbook. In the Middle Ages, muhallebi and its European counterpart blancmange were made with shredded chicken. There are records from the Ottoman Empire for two versions of muhallebi: a version with shredded chicken (tavuk göğsü) served during the reign of Mehmed the Conqueror, and a later recipe dating to 1530 for a meatless version flavored with rose water.

Mushabak

Mushabak

Zalabiyeh is a fritter or doughnut found in several cuisines across the Arab world, West Asia and some parts of Europe influenced by the former. The fritter version is made from a semi-thin batter of wheat flour which is poured into hot oil and deep-fried. The earliest known recipe for the dish comes from a 10th-century Arabic cookbook and was originally made by pouring the batter through a coconut shell. The earliest known recipes for zalabiya comes from the 10th century Arabic cookbook Kitab al-Tabikh. In the old Al-Baghdadi book of recipes of the Arabs; the dough was poured through a coconut shell. This style of fritter is similar to the Indian jelabi and a 16th-century recipe from German cuisine for strauben made using a funnel. Different methods have developed in the preparation of the pastry dessert. According to Muqadassi (10th-century CE), the people in Greater Syria during winter "[would] prepare the unlatticed type of Zalabiya. This would be the deep-fried bread fritter Zalabiya. Some are elongated in shape, similar to crullers, while the smaller ones, sometimes made into balls, are similar to the shape of dumplings." In North Africa, they would give the name Zalabiya to a different type of pastry, namely to the Mushabbak, being a deep-fried lattice-shaped pastry made by looping batter, and drenched in ʻasal (honey) syrup or qatr."

Om ali

Om ali

Om Ali, Omali, Umm Ali, or Oumm Ali , meaning "Mother of Ali", is a traditional Egyptian dessert, and is a national dessert of Egypt. There are numerous variations with different composition. The dish, which is traced back to as far as Medieval Egypt, it is named after the wife of the Sultan of Egypt, who, according to folklore, asked all Egypt's cooks and women to compete and come up with the most delicious dessert that they could create as a form of celebration. The chosen recipe was later distributed throughout the country to celebrate, and it is a national dish of Egypt and a traditional Egyptian dessert till this day. It is commonly eaten during Ramadan as part of the iftar or sunset feast. The Egyptian dessert is said to have originated as a celebration of the death of Shajar al-Durr, who had been married to Egypt's final Sultan from the Ayyubid dynasty, As-Salih, and subsequently to the first of Egypt's Mamluk Sultans, Izz al-Din Aybak. Shajar al-Durr plotted the murder of Aybak, after which she became ruler of Egypt. Ultimately, she was herself killed in retribution, whereafter Aybak's first wife, who was known as Om Ali, asked to have a dessert prepared in celebration. The dessert was popularised throughout the country, and was named after Om Ali. Typically, pastry (bread, pastry or puff pastry) is divided into pieces and blended with pistachios, coconut flakes, raisins and plenty of sugar. Milk, sometimes with cream, is poured over the mixture, which is then sprinkled with cinnamon. Finally, the mixture is baked in the oven until the surface is golden brown.

Qatayef

Qatayef

Qatayef, katayef, or qata'if , is an Arabic dessert. It is a type of sweet dumpling filled with cream or nuts, or a folded pancake, similar to a Scottish crumpet. The Arabic word qaṭaːyif (Arabic: قطايف) is derived from the Arabic root q-ṭ-f, meaning to pick up or to pluck. Qatayef is believed to be of Fatimid origin. Some believe that qatayef are the creation of the Fatimid Dynasty, however, their history dates back to the Abbasid Caliphate, 750–1258 CE. Qatayef was mentioned in a tenth century Arabic cookbook dating back to the Abbasid Caliphate by Ibn Sayyar al-Warraq called Kitab al-Ṭabīḫ (Arabic: كتاب الطبيخ, The Book of Dishes). The book was later translated by Nawal Nasrallah under the name Annals of the Caliphs' Kitchens. The traditional stuffing of Qatayef, as evident in a number of Medieval Arabic cookbooks, is crushed almond and sugar. In these recipes, once the pancake was stuffed, it would sometimes be fried in walnut oil or baked in the oven. Qatayef was traditionally prepared by street vendors as well as households in Egypt and the Levant. It is usually filled with akkawi cheese, crushed walnuts, as well as crushed pistachios. Diverse fillings, such as Nutella, are also used.

Qurabiya

Qurabiya

Qurabiya also ghraybe, ghorayeba, ghoriba, ghribia, ghraïba, gurabija, ghriyyaba, or kourabiedes (Greek: κουραμπιέδες) and numerous other spellings and pronunciations, is a shortbread-type biscuit, usually made with ground almonds. Versions are found in most Arab, Balkan and Ottoman cuisines, with various different forms and recipes. They are similar to polvorones from Andalusia. In the Maghreb and Egypt, they are often served with Libyan tea, Arabic coffee or Maghrebi mint tea. A recipe for a shortbread cookie similar to ghorayebah but without almonds, called in Arabic khushkanānaj gharīb (exotic cookie), is given in the earliest known Arab cookbook, the 10th-century Kitab al-Ṭabīḫ. Kurabiye appears in the Ottoman cuisine in the 15th century.

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Sab alqafsha

Fried dough with syrup, saffron and cardamom

Suman

Suman

Suman, or budbud, is an elongated rice cake originating in the Philippines. It is made from glutinous rice cooked in coconut milk, often wrapped in banana leaves, coconut leaves, or buli or buri palm leaves for steaming. It is usually eaten sprinkled with sugar or laden with latik. A widespread variant of suman uses cassava instead of glutinous rice. There are numerous varieties of suman, with almost every town or locality having its speciality. Some are described below:

Taho

Taho

Tahô is a Philippine snack food made of fresh soft/silken tofu, arnibal (sweetener and flavoring), and sago pearl (similar to tapioca pearls). This staple comfort food is a signature sweet and tahô peddlers can be found all over the country. The dish originates from Hokkien tāu-hū (豆腐), which was introduced to the Philippines via Hokkien immigrants.

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Tamrieh

Thin pastry dough wrapped around semolina pudding, then fried and coated with powdered sugar

Tulumba

Tulumba

Tulumba or Bamiyeh is a deep-fried dessert found in Egypt, Turkey and the regional cuisines of the former Ottoman Empire. It is a fried batter soaked in syrup, similar to jalebis or churros. It is made from unleavened choux pastry dough (usually about 3 cm long) piped with a pastry bag using an open star or similar tip. It is first deep-fried to golden colour and then sugar-sweet syrup is poured over it when still hot. It is eaten cold. Tulumba literally means 'pump' in Turkish, deriving from the Italian tromba. The dessert is called pomba in Cypriot Greek and bombacık in Cypriot Turkish. In Armenian cuisine it may be called either pomp or tulumba (Armenian: թուլումբա). Tulumba features in Albanian, Serbian, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Greek (Greek: τουλούμπα), Azeri (Azerbaijani: Ballıbadı) and Turkish cuisines. The sweet is also found in Persian cuisine as bamiyeh (Persian: باميه), after the vegetable of the same Persian name (okra), due to its shape. In Hejazi it is called ṭurumba (Arabic: طُرُمْبَة) directly from Italian: tromba, but in Egyptian and some Arab cuisines it is called balaḥ ash-Shām (Arabic: بلح الشام), literally "Syrian dates" or "Damascene dates," though the name may have come from "şambali", another Turkish dessert (the "Şam" in "şambali" corresponding to "Shām" in "balaḥ ash-Shām" and both referring to Damascus). In Iraqi cuisine it is known as datli (Arabic: داطلي), directly coming from Turkish word tatlı. It is made from a yogurt[citation needed] and starch based dough, which is fried before being dipped in syrup. It is a special sweet often enjoyed at Iftar in Ramadan. It is also commonly sold alongside jalebi, which is prepared in a similar way, but arranged in a web-like arrangement of strips of dough.

Ube halaya

Ube halaya

Ube halaya or halayang ube is a Philippine dessert made from boiled and mashed purple yam (Dioscorea alata, locally known as ube). Ube halaya is the main base in ube/purple yam flavored-pastries and ube ice cream. It can also be incorporated in other desserts such as halo-halo. It is also commonly anglicized as ube jam, or called by its original native name, nilupak na ube. The Philippines shows the highest phenotypic diversity of ube (Dioscorea alata), making it one of the likely centers of origin of ube domestication. Remains of ube have been recovered from the Ille Cave archaeological site of Palawan (c. 11,000 BP).

Yema cake

Yema cake

Yema cake is a Filipino chiffon cake with a custard filling known as yema. It is generally prepared identically to mamón , with the only difference being that it incorporates yema either as frosting, as filling, or as part of the cake batter. Yema is a custard-like combination of milk and egg yolks. It is also typically garnished with grated cheese.

Zerde

Zerde

Zerde is a traditional Iraqi, Mesopotamian dessert. The original rice pudding, infused with a generous amount of saffron giving it a vibrant yellow hue and a delicate floral flavour. This is a festive dish popular at weddings, births, and during holy festivities such as the first Sunday of the month of Sha'aban celebrating the birth of the prophet Zakariyya, and the first ten days of the sacred month of Muharram. Zer, which means gold and or yellow, comes from Persian zard which means yellow. In some regions of Turkey, Zerdeçal Turmeric also added for a more intense colour. Zerde is very popular and has made its way to western Turkey with people immigrating to west at Eastern Thrace, which provides almost the half of country's rice production, zerde is a favored dessert. Flavoring ingredients of zerde vary slightly from region to region in Turkey depending on the local fruits.

Znoud el sit

Znoud el sit

Deep-fried cream filled phyllo pastries

Arabic coffee

Arabic coffee

Arabic coffee is a version of the brewed coffee of Coffea arabica beans. Most Arab countries throughout the Middle East have developed distinct methods for brewing and preparing coffee. Cardamom is an often-added spice, but it can alternatively be served plain or with sugar. There are several different styles to brewing the coffee depending on the preference of the drinker. Some methods keep the coffee light whereas others can make it dark. Arabic coffee is bitter, and typically no sugar is added. It is usually served in a small cup that is adorned with a decorative pattern, known as a finjān. Culturally, Arabic coffee is served during family gatherings or when receiving guests. Arabic coffee originated in the Middle East, beginning in Yemen and eventually travelling to Mecca , Egypt, the Levant, and then, in the mid-16th century, to Turkey and from there to Europe where coffee eventually became popular as well. Arabic coffee is an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Arab states confirmed by UNESCO.

Arabica coffee

Arabica coffee

Coffea arabica , also known as the Arabica coffee, is a species of flowering plant in the coffee and madder family Rubiaceae. It is believed to be the first species of coffee to have been cultivated and is the dominant cultivar, representing about 60% of global production. Coffee produced from the less acidic, more bitter, and more highly caffeinated robusta bean (C. canephora) makes up most of the remaining coffee production. The natural populations of Coffea arabica are restricted to the forests of South Ethiopia and Yemen.

Black coffee

Black coffee

Coffee is a beverage brewed from roasted coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content. It has the highest sales in the world market for hot drinks. The seeds of the Coffea plant's fruits are separated to produce unroasted green coffee beans. The beans are roasted and then ground into fine particles typically steeped in hot water before being filtered out, producing a cup of coffee. It is usually served hot, although chilled or iced coffee is common. Coffee can be prepared and presented in a variety of ways . Sugar, sugar substitutes, milk, and cream are often added to mask the bitter taste or enhance the flavor.

Caffè macchiato

Caffè macchiato

Caffè macchiato , sometimes called espresso macchiato and often shortened to just macchiato in English, is an espresso coffee drink with a small amount of milk, usually foamed. In Italian, macchiato means 'stained' or 'spotted', so the literal translation of caffè macchiato is 'stained coffee' or 'marked coffee'. The origin of the name macchiato stems from baristas needing to show the serving waiters the difference between an espresso and an espresso with a tiny bit of milk in it; the latter was "marked". The idea is reflected in the Portuguese name for the drink: café pingado, meaning 'coffee with a drop'.

Caffè mocha

Caffè mocha

A caffè mocha , also called mocaccino ( Italian: [mokatˈtʃiːno]), is a chocolate-flavoured warm beverage that is a variant of a caffè latte, commonly served in a glass rather than a mug. Other commonly used spellings are mochaccino and also mochachino. The name is derived from the city of Mokha, Taiz Governorate, Yemen, which was one of the centres of early coffee trade. Like latte, the name is commonly shortened to just mocha. The name "mocha" is derived from the Yemeni port of Mokha, which was a port well-known for its coffee trade from the 15th to 17th century, and where small quantities of fine coffee grown in the hills nearby was exported. When coffee drinking culture spread to Europe, Europeans referred to coffee imports from Arabia as Mochas, even though coffee from Yemen itself was uncommon and frequently mixed with beans from Abyssinia, and later coffee from Malabar or the West Indies were also marketed as Mocha coffee. The coffee drink today called "mocha," however, is made by adding chocolate, and some believe that this is the result of confusion caused by the chocolate flavor that may sometimes be found in Yemeni coffee. Chocolate has been combined with coffee after chocolate drink was introduced to Italy in the 17th century; in Turin, chocolate was mixed with coffee and cream to produce bavareisa, which evolved in the 18th century into bicerin served in small clear glass where its components may be observed as three separate layers. However, prior to 1900s, Mocha referred to Yemeni coffee, and its meaning began to change around the turn of the 20th century, and recipes for food such as cakes that combined chocolate and coffee that referenced mocha began to appear. In 1920, a recipe for a "Chilled Mocha" was published with milk, coffee and cocoa as ingredients.

Cappuccino

Cappuccino

Cappuccino is an espresso-based coffee drink that is traditionally prepared with steamed milk including a layer of milk foam. Variations of the drink involve the use of cream instead of milk, using non-dairy milk substitutes and flavoring with cocoa powder (in Europe and Australasia) or cinnamon (in the United States). It is typically smaller in volume than that of a latte, and topped with a thick layer of foam rather than being made with microfoam.

Coffee

Coffee

Coffee is a beverage brewed from roasted coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content. It has the highest sales in the world market for hot drinks. The seeds of the Coffea plant's fruits are separated to produce unroasted green coffee beans. The beans are roasted and then ground into fine particles typically steeped in hot water before being filtered out, producing a cup of coffee. It is usually served hot, although chilled or iced coffee is common. Coffee can be prepared and presented in a variety of ways . Sugar, sugar substitutes, milk, and cream are often added to mask the bitter taste or enhance the flavor.

Coffee

Coffee

Coffee is a beverage brewed from roasted coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content. It has the highest sales in the world market for hot drinks. The seeds of the Coffea plant's fruits are separated to produce unroasted green coffee beans. The beans are roasted and then ground into fine particles typically steeped in hot water before being filtered out, producing a cup of coffee. It is usually served hot, although chilled or iced coffee is common. Coffee can be prepared and presented in a variety of ways . Sugar, sugar substitutes, milk, and cream are often added to mask the bitter taste or enhance the flavor.

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